PHILADELPHIA // For a moment, Patrick Kane was the only one who knew the Chicago Blackhawks had won the Stanley Cup. As he skated to the other end of the ice, his teammates quickly joined in the celebration that ended 49 years without a title for the team from the Windy City. Kane sneaked the puck past Michael Leighton 4min 06secs into overtime and stunned Philadelphia to lift Chicago to a 4-3 victory in Game 6 of the finals on Wednesday night for their first championship since 1961.
No one but the Blackhawks appeared to realise what was going on for a few frozen moments. Kane and his linemates knew the puck had found the net. The goal light never went on, but that did not stop most of the Blackhawks from storming the ice and mobbing one another in celebration. "I tried to sell the celebration a little bit," Kane said. "Everyone came down, and I think some of the guys were still kind of iffy to see if the puck was in the net."
Oh, it was in, a brief video replay confirmed - and the Blackhawks' revival from the bottom of the NHL to the elite was complete. "I believed in him," said Jonathan Toews, their captain and the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as play-off MVP. "I don't think he would have thrown his gloves off like that if he wasn't 100 per cent sure." Kane will go down as scoring one of the biggest goals in his team's history.
He raised his arms right away and skated behind the net, knowing the goal was good. While the Flyers sat on the bench in stunned silence looking confused, the Blackhawks began to celebrate in their own end around Antti Niemi, the goaltender. "I was just hoping it was just an actual goal or we would be celebrating for nothing," Toews said. Before reaching the group hug, Kane stooped to pick up some loose ice shavings ? looking like a mischievous kid ready to throw a snowball in the backyard.
"There's so many great things about winning a Stanley Cup. This is it," Toews said. "This is the best feeling you can ever get. I just can't believe it's happened." Toews was first to touch the cup, taking it from Gary Bettman, the NHL Commissioner, and hoisting it above his head in triumph. Marian Hossa, whose last two attempts at a title were denied the past two years with Detroit and Pittsburgh, was next. He lifted it and bench-pressed the big trophy, snapping his head back in exhilaration.
"I put it on my shoulder. What a relief," Hossa said. It was the Blackhawks' first Stanley Cup since Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita led the way 49 years ago, when the NHL had only six teams - the Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. It ended the longest active championship drought in the NHL and Kane became the first player to score the Stanley Cup clinching goal in overtime since Jason Arnott did it for New Jersey at Dallas in 2000.
"I heard the sound, it was a funny sound," Joel Quenneville, the Blackhawks' coach, said of the cup-winner. "Nobody knew where the puck was. Kaner thought it was in." Michael Leighton, the Flyers' goaltender, stopped 37 shots - just not the last one. "I went to the corner and saw a guy drive the net," he said. "I thought he was going to pass it but he threw it at my feet and it went underneath me."
Fitting in a series where neither team had much wiggle room, this one needed overtime. Just when it appeared the Flyers season was over, Scott Hartnell squeezed out another clutch goal. With the offence revved into desperation mode, Hartnell was floored by Toews right in front of the crease as he knocked a loose puck in to make it 3-3 with 3min 59secs left in the third period. He raised his arms while flat on his back. Knocked down, never out.
The Flyers' faithful turned their white towels into rally symbols only moments after they could have been used for surrender. Most home fans politely applauded when the game was over, but there were boos from the few thousand who stuck around as the Blackhawks took their turns hoisting the silver trophy. A few hundred Blackhawks fans went wild as the team took a picture with the cup. Peter Laviolette, the Flyers' coach, said he never saw the winning goal. "I saw one of their players skate across the ice like he had won something," he said. "I got a little pit in my stomach."
The Blackhawks ruthlessly attacked the Flyers and it paid off with two should-have-been-stopped goals against Leighton. The goaltender, who had been flawless at home this post-season, could not come up with two crucial saves and that helped put Chicago in the driver's seat. Andrew Ladd, an injury scratch in the first three games, deflected Niklas Hjalmarsson's slap shot from the circle with just over two minutes left in the second period. That made it 3-2 and nearly stood as the winner
His goal followed Patrick Sharp's soft wrister that scooted under Leighton's left skate to tie it at two midway through the period. Sharp's 11th goal of the post-season came during a four-on-four. Niemi was rarely tested. Daniel Briere beat him for a 2-1 lead when he came streaking down the right side and went high glove side off a crisp pass from Ville Leino with 12 minutes left. There were 40 goals scored in the first five games, the most for a finals since 1981. This one was a goalie's duel early with only a power-play goal from each team in the first period.
* AP
